INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW JERSEY

880 BERGEN AVENUE, JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY 07306

201/653-3888 FAX 201/963-0252

BRINGING THE WORLD OF NEW JERSEY TOGETHER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS

International Institute calls for Renewed National Resolve

to Eliminate Torture

JERSEY CITY, June 23, 2004 - On the occasion of the International Day Against Torture, celebrated this year on June 26, the International Institute of New Jersey has issued a call to reaffirm the nation’s commitment to the eradication of torture, both here and abroad.

The Institute, headquartered in Jersey City and with offices in West New York and Elizabeth, operates a treatment center for torture survivors who make it to America. The Center provides legal, medical, and emotional support to people from a wide variety of nationalities. According to Institute President, Dr. Nicholas V. Montalto, more than 500,000 torture survivors now live in the United States, with at least 75,000 in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. More than 180 torture survivors have been helped by the Institute since the program began in 2000

“Torture itself is a form of terrorism,” Montalto said, “because it is violent and extra-judicial and leaves lasting physical and emotional scars. Our clients come to us with flashbacks and nightmares, insecurity, and impaired relationships. Their belief in the United States as a place of refuge from the horrors of the past has been shaken by the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal.”

Prior to the recent revelations about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, the United States, according to Montalto, was a moral and political leader in mobilizing the international community to eradicate torture. The United States signed the Convention against Torture in 1994. It has provided support for torture victims’ treatment centers in the U.S. and abroad, has made voluntary contributions to the UN Fund for the Victims of Torture, and has employed bilateral diplomacy to convince other nations to ban the practice. The Department of State’’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices reports impartially on incidents of torture worldwide. “Certainly, our record has not been without blemish,” he said; “we have had incidents of prisoner abuse in the United States, and tragedies like My Lai, but there was little doubt until now that the nation stood squarely on the side of fundamental human rights.”

The Clinical Director of the Institute’s Program for Survivors of Torture, Kay Itzagsohn, who herself grew up in Argentina during the period of the military dictatorship, when torture and disappearances were widespread, fears that US involvement in torture will undermine worldwide efforts to eradicate torture. She urges the U.S. government to “fully and impartially investigate the recent revelations of prisoner abuse, including high level official complicity in the actions of service personnel on the ground.” She also urges the US to set an example to the world by abiding by all relevant national and international treaties and obligations banning the use of torture.”

A theater piece depicting the lives of some of the Institute’s clients will be performed at this year’s New York International Fringe Festival in Manhattan. Entitled HAVEN, the piece focuses on the lives of torture survivors from Africa, Afghanistan, and Bosnia. For further information about the Institute, contact Sara Kahn, Director, Cross-Cultural Counseling Center, 201-653-3888, X112.

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